A strident homeless man started yelling obscenities, causing Mayor Kirk Caldwell and several members of his administration to look up from their lunch at the newly opened Waikiki Grass Shack Bistro.
Just then, another down-and-out person blew his nose in a napkin that he pulled from the trash.
"Did you see that?" Caldwell asked as he shook his head and turned to Alex Ah Tou, the general manager. "I’m sorry that you had to put up with that."
In May the city joined with the private vendor Service Systems Associates to open an oceanside cafe in a former Kuhio Beach public pavilion that had become a haven for homeless people. Displacing some of Waikiki’s homeless by converting the blighted pavilion into a charming eatery is just one of the administration’s latest strategies for combating the myriad problems associated with large numbers of unsheltered people living in the state’s No. 1 tourist area.
"This is one of the best beaches," Caldwell told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a recent interview. "It should be enjoyed by all. But the homeless population moved in and basically took it over and occupied it to the point that visitors and locals couldn’t find a place to enjoy the views and breezes."
Caldwell said he’s tired of issuing apology letters to disgruntled travelers, who are becoming increasingly concerned by the district’s visible, and in some cases aggressive, homeless population. Their reports of homeless people defecating and urinating in streets and hotel gardens, stealing towels and other supplies, aggressively panhandling and blocking access to parks and beaches have increasingly popped up on social media sites like TripAdvisor and YouTube and in national and international media publications.
That’s why, in addition to stepping up police enforcement, Caldwell is working with other city departments such as Enterprise Services, Facility Maintenance, and Parks and Recreation to come up with more strategies that, like the bistro, pay for themselves while making an immediate difference in the neighborhood.
"It’s a pilot project that we are trying for one year," said Tracy Kubota, the city’s deputy director of enterprise services. "We’ll make a minimum of $60,000 a year contingent on their sales. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s going to be very successful. They’ve been getting excellent reviews."
Ah Tou, who works for SSA, which also manages the city’s gift shop at Hanauma Bay and food concessions by the Waikiki police substation and at the zoo, said the company was excited to offer another Waikiki dining option.
"Us being here opens the pavilion up to the community again," he said. "We’re slowly gaining regulars."
Missouri visitor Amy Bahr counts herself among them.
"We came yesterday and got the pulled pork," Bahr said. "It was so delicious that we came back again. This place is amazing. We love that we can sit in the shade and take in such a wonderful view."
Bahr wouldn’t have said that a few weeks ago, when the chair she was sitting in was occupied by a homeless squatter in a makeshift cardboard home.
Caldwell’s administration has pledged to find ways to privatize other pavilions and maybe even the city sidewalks that homeless people and panhandlers have taken over so that they are safe and accessible to all.
They also are working on finding a private partner or additional public funding to support keeping at least one Waikiki public bathroom open 24 hours. And they are shopping for trash cans with lids that lock to keep people and critters from digging in the bins.
The new city parks and recreation director, Michele Nekota, who came from the same role in Salt Lake City, said if she had more money, she would keep all three of the city’s public bathrooms along Kuhio Beach open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She also would replace the current bathrooms with European-styled aluminum structures, where the roof is open and the floor doesn’t go all the way down.
"It’s not as private, so people can’t camp and it prevents other bad things from happening," Nekota said.
She also said she is looking for opportunities to use city resources to get Waikiki’s at-risk kids off the streets.
"In Utah we did a lot of collaboration with other agencies," she said. "We did midnight basketball games. They loved that there. Here it might be soccer. We’ll find what they like and go for it."
